Harry Potter and the Fledgling Phoenix
by magicseeds
Summary: Harry james Potter is an interesting young man, soon the wizarding world will see just how interesting a young wizard can become. AU!IntelligentHarry!HPATPS!
1. A Change of Lifestyle

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any other JK product. Wish I did though.

**Chapter 1: A change of lifestyle**

_in which we meet our hero & our hero learns the truth about his life, a visit to the bank is in order_

Harry Potter was an interesting young man, but you wouldn't know that by looking at him. In fact your first impression would be that he was younger than his 11 years, he was small and scrawny, withmessy unkempt black hair and glasses that hid his sparkling green eyes and framed his face and drew the attention away from the only blemish on his youthful face, a scar over his left eyebrow, a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt. He rarely spoke, and was often caught by his school 'mates' with his head in a book. Harry tended to keep away from the other children who attended his school Little Whinging C of E Primary, as they reminded him of his cousin Dudley. Dudley Dursley was the exact opposite of Harry, Fat instead of Thin, Violent instead of Quiet, A Bully rather than the Victim.

However, Harry Potter was extraordinary not because of his mind (which was sharp), but of the fact that he was a wizard. Since he had been taken in by his Aunt and Uncle, Vernon and Petunia Dursley, aged one, after his parents were 'killed in a car crash whilst drunk' Harry's life had been difficult. Thrown in a cupboard under the stairs for a bedroom, at age 3 he was dusting the house, at age 4 he was scrubbing floors and at age 5 he had been forced to cook all his relatives meals and clean the entire house, yes his life had been difficult. He considered himself lucky however as neither of his relatives had hit him yet, as whenever it seemed they were about to they would get a glazed look and wander outside. Harry noticed he was different on his 9th birthday when, in a desperate attempt to escape Dudley and his gang he had found himself on the school roof. This had caused chaos in the 'normal' Dursleyhouse and he had been called freak ever since. This, however had got him thinking, back to when other strange and seemingly random occurrences had happened and he had come the conclusion that, if he was a freak, he see if he could control his 'freakiness' and make it help him out instead of getting him in trouble. However this was easier said than done and it had taken over a month of tireless exploration to find a place, deep in the heart of the Surrey country side, a good 10 minutes walk away from Privet Drive to sit and 'practice', it was a small clearing, around 6 feet squared, hidden away in the middle of a copse of young oak and birch trees, the sunlight would flicher through the leaves and branches overhead and there was little sound exceot for the warbling of songbirds. Not knowing where to start he had tried to mimic the 'force' that he had seen the one time when Aunt Petunia had forgotten to lock the cupboard door whilst they were watching a film, however when that failed he went to the one place in Little Whinging that he felt safe, the library however the only books he found there were books on card tricks and large complicated tomes on physic energies, he did however find a few books on meditation and yoga, and not to be deterred he had practiced and practiced, slowing is breathing and trying to find his 'centre' until one day, something amazing occurred.

It was 3 in the afternoon, on cold September day, a few months after our hero's 9th birthday and Harry Potter was sitting, legs folded, eyes closed, calmly breathing, ignoring everything when all of a sudden he found himself stood in the middle of what appeared to be Little Whinging Library, but it was different, the windows were boarded over and the selves were dusty and the place looked in disrepair. On top of that instead of the Dewy decimal system there was rows saying things like Maths, History, Life Experience, on and on it went until there was a small isle that said had Magic marked on it in neat cursave scipt that appeared to be blocked by a shinning golden barrier.

Harry was stunned "Magic?" He thought "is that what I can do when I'm angry or scared? Magic? If it is then why can't I do it all the time, maybe I don't have enough, maybe it only comes when I need it too, or maybe I have to practise until I can use It and what is that barrier, it stops me from getting to the magic section, who would want to do that, and why would someone block my magic section, am I dangerous or is there something else?" Shrugging the thought aside he continued his exploration of, what he had come to realise was, his mind's library until he found a section marked "The Past" and deep into the isle was a door, it was black, pulsating witha vile purple light and was oozing a tar like substance onto the floor in a puddle that was slowly expanding. "This looks bad" he thought and tried to scoop up the tar and move it, only for searing pain to lance through his forehead and he awoke sweating in the middle of the clearing in Little Whinging. "Ouch!" said Harry as he rubbed the scar, "I won't try that gain" before he stood and hurried home to cook the Dursleys' dinner before uncle Vernon got home from work. Harry took many more trips into his mind over the next month, trying to break a hole in the block that stopped his access to his 'magic' section, until he had managed to make a hole large enough for a hand to reach in and grab a scroll from the shelf. "Controlling yourself and your magic" he read excitedly, his fingers almost trembling, this was it, the beginning to unlocking his freakishness, his magic. Reading through the scroll he found many hints on how to manipulate the core to push magic from his hand to lift objects, and it was then that Harry Potter started to practise, for hours he would relax himself and try and push his magic towards a twig that he had placed on his palm, no matter how little movement there was, he was always sweating and tired afterwards. He made almost no progress for 6 whole months until one day something in his mind shattered and he felt warmthrun up his hand and the twig shot into the air, when he tried withanother twig he found he could hold it in the air about 3 or 4 inches up from his palm. The next time he went into his mind he felt glass under his feet and saw that the barrier blocking him from the magic section had broken, and he tore through it withearnest. Soon he could control the twig in the air, call it to him or push it away, his mind marvelled with the possibilities of what he could do to larger targets, mainly his cousin Dudley and his sycophantic friend piers but he quickly chasised himself, he was determined to use his powers for good, not evil.

Harry practiced for the rest of the year, gaining more and more control of his magic, he could now move the air around him and change its temperature to compliment the weather, at school and at the Durlsey's nothing really thrilling happened and life continued as normal until Dudley's 11th Birthday, 5 weeks before Harry's. Now on previous Dudley birthday's Harry had been carted off to his neighbour Mrs Figg, which he didn't really enjoy as she smelt of cats and kept trying to get him to look at pictures of cakes. However this morning was different. "It's terrible" wailed Aunt Petunia "Mrs Figg has broken her leg and is in hospital, she can't take the freak, he'll have to come with us", "mum!! He can't come, he'll ruin everything" screamed Dudley, throwing his arms around in a tantrum, the doorbell suddenly stopped the tantrum as Dudley ran to greet his best friend Piers. On the journey to the zoo Harry was warned many times that if he did any freaky stuffs it was the cupboard for him for the rest of the weekend. Harry wandered throughout the zoo with a smile on his face, nothing had gone wrong and he had even got an ice cream, this joy lasted until the reptile house where as he walked past the Boa Constrictors cage, he heard a voice. "Sssssooooo veeerrrry coooolllddds in heeere, ssssssooo many ssstuuuppiiiddsss hummmaannnssss", Harry turned and stared at the snake "wwhhaaaatttssss yousss looookkinggssss atttsss?" it said as it stared at him, "Pardon" said Harry. The snake gave a lurch off its branch and looked at Harry with an air of surprise, it looked like it was going to say something else when Harry was shoved to the ground and Dudley pressed his pig like nose to the glass. At least, that is what he meant to do, but when Harry had been pushed out the way his magic had flared, and the glass had vanished, the result being that Dudley had fallen into the snake pen and was currently being introduced to a hungry looking Boa. Dudley's screams had brought Vernon, Petunia and a nearby zoo keeper running and after a brief struggle Dudley had been got free and they had left the zoo at a rapid pace. This event earned Harry the rest of the summer in his cupboard, or at least that was plan.

It was the morning of July 31st, Harry's 11th birthday and the Dursleyfamily were sat eating breakfast, Harry munching on the one piece of dry toast he was allowed to have, when the mail clattered through the letterbox. "Get the mail freak!" spat Uncle Vernon, sending sausage over the table, Harry scurried off to do as his uncle said, not wanting to anger him so early in the day and earn more cupboard time. It was as he was approaching the door when there was a sharp knock, "Get the door freak!" Vernon's voice drifted through from the kitchen. He opened it to find a stern looking woman, with grey hair in a bun and funny looking dark clothes staring down at him. "Harry James Potter?" she said in a Scottish burr, "I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, deputy headmistress of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, I have come to offer you a place in our school", she appeared to be about to say something else but Uncle Vernon's voice cut her off "Who is it freak? A Salesman? Send the good-for-nothing away and tell him that we don't want whatever he is selling!" he bellowed. Professor McGonagall's eyes furrowed at the term freak and she strode past him into the house.

Her arrival in the kitchen of number 4 privet drive caused a chain reaction of chaos, Aunt Petunia fainted and Uncle Vernon turned a dark shade of purple. "Explain just why you just called your nephew freak Mr. Dursley" spat Professor McGonagall "surely you do not despise him because of his magical heritage". "You're a freak too!!!" Vernon roared "GET OUT, GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, I WILL NOT HAVE IT SULLIED BY ANOTHER FREAK, I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT", "Mr. Dursley, I am merely here to get Harry to offer him tuition at Hogwarts" "NO, I forbid it, he won't learn it, he's already a bookworm freak, I won't have you filling his head with rubbish and turning him even more freakish, I'm not paying for that worthless no-good piece of shit to do anything!" Vernon was ranting, turning more and more purple, his eyes bulging; he looked for all the world like a heart attack was only seconds away. "It is obvious to me that leaving Harry here was a mistake, one that I must rectify immediately, Mr. Dursley you leave me NO other option. Harrison James Potter, I hereby grant you the status of ward of the school of Hogwarts for your own protection, So Mote It Be!" This last word was shouted as a white glow surrounded the confused youngster as Vernon made a lunge for the woman, however for all the things in the world quick was not something that characterised Vernon Dursley, the woman drew a long cylindrical stick and shouted a word that sounded to Harry like "Stupefy", a red light flashed and Uncle Vernon was collapsed on the floor a second and third light hit Aunt Petunia and the wide eyed Dudley, the former stayed still on the floor where she had been beginning to rise, the latter fell forward, his pig-like face hitting the plate of meat in front of him.  
"Excuse me?" asked Harry "but what is Hogwarts and what is a ward of the school, and why did I glow, and what where those red lights?" Professor McGonagall smiled at the inquisitive boy and explained that Hogwart's was a school for magical children, headed by one the most powerful wizards alive Professor Albus Dumbledore, it was where he would go to learn magic and that being a ward of the school meant that the school was now responsible for him in the magical world until he turned 15 and could legally be emancipated, the glow was just showing that the bond had been accepted by the school and himself, she also explained that the red light was a stunning spell that was a little bit to advanced for him at this moment in time. "And now Mr Potter, here is you Hogwart's letter, it is normally delivered by post but somehow I don't think that your (here she grimaced) relatives would like an owl arriving at the breakfast table" "no" grinned Harry as he read the letter in front of him " They don't like anything that's not normal".

The Letter read as follows:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin 1st Class, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump.)

Dear Mr Potter,  
We are pleased to announce that you have been accepted into Hogwarts, your name has been down on our books since birth, courtesy of your parent's heritage. Enclosed is a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1st September. We would usually deliver this letter by Owl post however circumstances mean that this letter is hand delivered by a member of staff

Yours Sincerely,  
Minerva McGonagall – Deputy Headmistress

Harry stared at it, his eyes wide as he took in the list of books, so many new things to learn, inside he was bouncing for joy, especially at the mention of his parents, but he realised something and turned to the Professor with sad eyes. "But Professor, I don't have any money and the Dursley's wouldn't have paid for anything, I can't afford this". "Nonsense Mr Potter, you are the last of an Ancient and Noble family, there is a vault waiting for you at Gringotts, now collect your items and we shall head off." Harry went to his cupboard and pulled out his only other set of clothes and the few broken army men that served as his childhood toys "I'm ready miss" he said. Tears filled the professors' eyes as she realised just how badly the boy had been treated and vowed to never let it happen again. "Now Mr Potter" she said "before we leave there are several things I must tell you but I need to know where to begin, tell me, what do you know about your parent's deaths?", "not much professor, Uncle Vernon told me they were worthless drunks who died in a car crash" said Harry with a touch of bitterness. "Well I can tell you that's nonsense Mr Potter, your parents where two well respected wizards who were murdered by one of the darkest wizards of our time, his name is not widely spoken in our world, people prefer to call him you-know-who or he-who-must-be-named, however his name is Lord V...V...Voldemort, although I would prefer you not to say it, this leads me on to the (here she sniffed) the night your parents died Harry, they were betrayed and Voldemortcame to your house where he murdered you father and mother but when he went to kill you something happened, and somehow he was gone, defeated, and all that was left was you and your scar, your well known for that in our world Mr Potter, you are too many witches and wizards... a hero, the Boy-who-lived, and they will be (here she grimaced) eager... to meet you, to try and be your friend, I will give you this advice Mr Potter, Choose your friends well, because the light could not deal withanother betrayal" and with that cryptic statement she swept out of the door. Harry stood there for several minutes, trying to absorb the information that the professor had divulged. He didn't really think he could be a hero; he was having a hard time accepting he didn't have to go to the Dursleysagain let alone be some sort of super hero wizard! "Come Mr Potter, I do not have all day" came the professor's voice from somewhere outside; Harry took one last look around Number 4 Privet Drive, took a deep breath and walked out the door, closing it softly behind him.

At the end of the driveway the professor held her wand up, the tip flashed purple and seconds later a large purple London double decker bus sat there gleaming, heat pouring from its engine, the professor turned to Harry and said "welcome Mr Potter, to the Knight Bus". The Knight bus was a bizarre contraption that seemed to be much larger on the inside that outside, it had beds as well as the usual bus seats. Harry sat next to the professor as a voice suddenly was heard overhead. "NEXT STOP – LEAKY CAULDRON" and the bus shot off, throwing harry off his seat. Just as he had picked himself up the bus lurched again and he found himself sprawled on the floor as a voice said "All for the leaky cauldron this is your stop, next stop Ottery St Catchpole, followed by Godric's Hollow and the international portkey centre". The professor helped him up, laughter in her eyes and once getting off the bus, guided him towards the door of an old looking pub; she didn't stop once she was inside either, creating a path for him to walk through until they had exited through another door and arrived in the back yard, where they stopped. "Remember this Mr Potter" she said as she drew her wand "To enter Diagon Alley, that is the main wizardingstreet in Britain, you must touch this brick withyour wand" she pointed to a brick 3 up and 2 to the right from the lid of the dustbin, as she touched it the wall faded into itself revealing a breathtaking street that made Harry gasp. It looked like an old street that he had seen in a history book on the Victorian times, except it was bursting with colour; brightly coloured buildings had signs saying things like Eyelops Owl Emporium and Quality Quidditch Supplies.

Harry wished he had many more pairs of eyes as he walked down the street, trying to match the fast pace of his professor, a young girl with shinning red hair noticed him, their eyes met briefly before she saw his scar and screamed "ITS HARRY POTTER!!" gasps took in this statement before Harry found himself surrounded by people all patting him on the back, grabbing at his hand, at him in general, he couldn't see the professor and was getting more and more wound up as the people wouldn't let him through, he was starting to panic. A canon shot sounded, silencing the baying mob and then a furious professor McGonagallwas storming towards the crowd "HOW DARE YOU! ALL OF YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED, WHAT WHERE YOU THINKING! THE POOR BOY LOOKS AS WHITE AS A SHEET!" she grasped his hand firmly and guided him in through the doors of a large white marble building with silver doors. Once inside she turned and asked harry if he was alright, and after gotten assurances that he was indeed alright, they approached the strange looking creature, who was manning a large podium "What!" it snapped, "Mr Potter needs to visit his vault, here is his key" the professor showed the creature the key, it turned and sneered. "What you lookin' at child?" is asked, showing many sharp teeth. "Excuse me? But what are you?" asked Harry politely "I am a goblin child, this is a goblin bank" it said looked at him with a puzzled expression as if trying to decipher if he was serious, its long fingers stroking a long goatee beard, after a few seconds of apparently making up its mind, it turned "GRIPHOOK, it shouted, take Mr Potter to his vault". Another Goblin, smaller that the first and witha smaller goatee beard arrived and ushered harry over to what looked for the entire world like a mining cart with seats. Once in the cart, it shot off like a roller coaster cart that soon had Harry whooping and shouting for it to go faster as the stale warm air rushed past through his hair, after 5 minutes of awe-inspiring speed the car came to a leisurely stop in-front of vault 687.

Once out the cart the goblin gestured for harry to insert the key into the heavy gold lock on the vault door, there was a slight sound a cogs moving before the door swung open and harry looked inside, his eyes bulged as he took in the piles of large gold coins and hexagonal silver pieces as well as the stacks of smaller copper coins that seemed to fill the large space. He turned to the Goblin and asked what the coins where, "The gold ones are Galleons, 1 Galleon is worth £100, there are 10 silver Sickles to a Galleon and there are 50 copper Knuts to the sickle, it is fairly easy to remember(1)" Harry took a bag from the wall and filled it up with 100 Galleons, a large pile of Sickles and a smaller number of Knuts. On the way back up Harry was thinking that he was glad the Dursleys didn't know he had money, as he was sure that they would have spent it all and not given him any of it for himself. Professor McGonagall met him at the top of the run and explained how she had arranged for them to leave the bank through a side door to avoid the crowd she was sure had gathered at the main entrance. She was proved right a few moments later as, when they stepped out a side door further down the street Harry was amused and yet slightly scared to see a largish crowd had gathered by the front entrance and that some of them appeared to have camera's. All that was on his mind a few seconds later however, was when the professor turned to Harry and said "Well Mr Potter, lets go and get you your wand".

................................................................................................  
That's it for Chapter 1. I stopped it here so that in the next chapter we shall have the shopping, Hedwig, meeting Draco Malfoyfor the first time, an interesting wand choosing, as well as a brief encounter with Ron Weasley, we also will have Harry's trip to the station and the ride to Hogwarts! So much stuff!

(1) I also chose an easier currency exchange model as well

I would appreciate any help and advice you can give, this is the first time i've actually tried to write something other than a poem.i also think at what seems to be 1000mph so if there is a sentence where a word is missing please point it out to me.

(Also I will explain what it means to be a ward of the school and Harry's wandless magic will be discussed in the next few chapters)


	2. The Wands that chose the Wizard

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any other JK product. Wish I did though.

**Chapter 2: The Wands that chose the Wizard**

_an interesting wand, Draco and Ron Brothers? the rest of the summer and arriving at Kings Cross_

The professor turned to Harry and said "Well Mr Potter, let's go and get you your wand". Harry grasped her hand tightly as the boyish enthusiasm that had threatened the entire day finally spilled over. That enthusiasm dropped a little as she dragged him towards a small shabby looking shop with dust in the windows, the sign overhead proclaimed this to be Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands since 382BC . Harry thought to himself that the shop had probably not been cleaned since 382BC, that notion was not dismissed when they went inside. The shop looked deserted and filthy, what was odd though was that Harry could feel 2 distinct pulls coming from deep inside the stacks of boxes behind the cluttered counter, it was as if someone had taken away a small part of him and told him to go and find it.

"Ahh Minerva McGonagall" came a dry reedy voice from just behind Harry's right ear causing him to leap about 4 foot in the air "11 inches, oak with Kneezle hair, and excellent wand for transfiguration and what's this, young Mr Potter, I have been waiting for you, oh yes, now then which hand is your most prominent, one which you would use over the other" Harry held up his right hand and was shocked to see a tape measure spring to life and slither snakelike across the floor until it coiled and sprung itself onto the outstretched arm where it started to measure everything seemingly at random. Just as Mr Ollivander went to reach for a box Harry spoke "Mr Ollivander, sir, why don't I just get the ones that are calling to me?" Mr Ollivander looked at Harry with an expression of awe and curiosity "a Wand is calling to you Mr Potter, well then I think you'd best go and fetch it then."

Harry walked slowly and carefully towards the back of the shop, careful to avoid the piles of boxes that where sticking out from shelves and cluttering the floor until on the very he saw not one, but two boxes that called to him, picking them up he made his way back to where the professor and the strange old wand maker were waiting and watching as he took the 2 boxes and placed them on the counter.

Mr Ollivander, whose eyes had bugged at the fact that Harry had brought not one but two boxes" opened the first box, a dark mahogany box with a deep red velvet inlay and removed the first wand "I remember every wand I have ever sold Mr Potter, every single one, and I cannot tell you how rare it is for a wizard to have two wands calling to them, this first one is an interest all in itself and it is perhaps not surprising that this wand chose you, it is 11 inches long, holly and phoenix feather, an unusual light combination, wave this please". As soon as Harry touched it great warmth seemed to burst from within him and a rainbow light shot from the end splashing glorious light throughout the darkened room and a single beautiful rich note sounded filling the room with emotions of joy and wonder. "I think we can safely say that this wand wants you Mr Potter, as to why it is curious, it is curious because the Phoenix who gave this feather gave one other, and the other wand that contains it Mr Potter was the one belonging to the boy who became a Dark Lord, the same Dark Lord who gave you that scar Mr Potter, we can expect great things from you Mr Potter, great things."

He then reached for the second box, and this box was totally different from the first, instead of wood it was made of stone, what appeared to be runes rippled over the surface, on the inside the wand was suspended by a single beam of magic running from tip to top. "This Mr Potter, was a wand made by the first Ollivander, it is invaluable in its worth and in power it is said is truly extraordinary, it is made from the Fang of a Long Toothed Dark Wolf, a species that has been extinct for over 800 years, its core is also unique as it is the only wand that I have heard of it all my years as a wand maker that contains a core of Phoenix fire, please pick this up and wave it Mr Potter". When Harry picked this wand up a surge of power flashed through him and fire seemed to travel through his body and his mind exploded in pain as beam of red and golden light shot out of the tip, swerved in mid air, and slammed into his forehead causing to collapse.

Harry opened his eyes to find himself in his mindscape outside the library door, one of the panels had come out from the window and dark purple pulsing light was flickering ominously, Bursting through the door he found streaks of dark purple and black light bursting from the mysterious door in the "past" section of his mind, which was pulsating with a violence that he had never seen before. His head was pounding and he felt like he was being drained from the inside out he was fighting off collapsing when a warmth filled him a presence appeared in his mind and a voice echoed throughout his mindscape spoke "I am Flamefire, Harrison James Potter, I am the first Phoenix, it is my fire that is held in your wand and I have decided to keep you safe from harm, now young one, evil has its grips on your mind and it is time to drive it out, draw your wand, point it at the dark portal and repeat after me "Exuro is malum , iacio is absentis"(1)" Harry turned and spoke the words the voice had commanded and stood in amazement as a stream of golden fire laced with music burst from his wand and tore through the dark spreading puddle, forcing back the pulsating evil and continue to force it back until there was none left in the library of his mind, the fire then swarmed over the door until it covered it completely. "This will hold the darkness at bay Harry Potter, until such time as you can destroy it completely, I will be watching you closely Mr Potter, when you need me I will come, also as a small present I have made it so that your mind is protected from others!" as the presence lifted Harry felt himself returning slowly to reality.

To say Professor McGonagall was flustered would be an understatement; today had not been turning out as she had planned. First Harry Potter had to be taken away from his 'relatives' because of the appalling abuse he had suffered under their care, then the poor child was mobbed in the street before collapsing receiving his second, here she shook her head, wand, he had gasped when he touched and then screamed when the light had struck his scar. Looking down at the child it had appeared that an intense battle was being fought as his eyes flickered under closed lids before he eventually calmed and a green puff of smoke had seeped from his scar. She was greatly relieved when he stirred and opened his eyes. "Mr Potter, are you alright? What on Merlin's name happened to you?" Harry though for a moment before he said "I'm not sure, when I touched the wand my scar burned and then the light hit it and then my mind was filled with song and light and a voice told me that darkness had been purged" he knew that this wasn't the truth but didn't want to let the professor know about the library in his mind, it was his and it was private. "Eat this Mr Potter" she said handing him a piece of chocolate "this will make you feel better."

Ollivander spoke then "A voice you say, amazing, and I thought that I knew all there was to learn about wand lore, but Mr Potter we have an issue, the Ministry of Magic in its (a grimace shot across his brow) wisdom has banned an individual from having to wands" as Harry began to speak Mr Ollivander interrupted him "However I may have a solution, there is an ancient roman spell that may help us, it was used to combine wand cores and may work here, Mr Potter please pick up both your wands and put them on your right hand." As Harry did so Ollivander started chanting "Per vox veneficus redimio illa duos una sic es unus" (2)" over and over He chanted as light poured from his hands onto the wands enveloping them, they rose and drifted apart before slamming together with a blast of light so powerful that everyone was temporarily blinded, when they could see again they all stared in awe at the vision of beauty resting in the palm of Mr Harry Potter.

The Wand, for there was little doubt that it needed to be referred to with a capital letter, was 11 ¼ inches long, It had a holly wood grip with runes flickering over the surface, about 4 inches up from the bottom the holly was curled round the fang which had become engraved which the stylised shape of a Phoenix twisting around until its beak was around the tip of the wand, it looked majestic and when Harry picked it up and waved it the same rainbow light came again but this time it was tinged with gold and the single note became a joyful that picked up everyone's spirit and left Harry feeling like he would burst with the energy that filled him.  
"This is a Wand that I cannot charge for Mr Potter" Mr Ollivander stated "It is unique and to price it would be unfair to yourself as you could surely not afford it, so I shall cost it at the standard 7 Sickles" "Thank you Mr Ollivander" Harry said as he rummaged in the bag and counted out 7 of the shiny silver Sickles and placed them on the counter.

After leaving Ollivander's they headed back up the street, sneaking past the crowd that was still waiting outside Gringotts albeit it was a smaller less excited crowd, and stopped outside Madame Malkins Robes for all occasions . The shop was similar to Ollivander's except that instead of shelves of wands there were robes and rolls of all different colours adorned the windows. "It will take all day Mr Potter, if we both go to one shop at a time, I shall go and purchase your potions ingredients and other such items and meet you back here in a minute, remember to get a few pairs of casual robes as well as some school robes, and you need some clothes of your own which we will have to get another time" with that the Professor turned and strode down the street. Harry stepped inside, Standing on a box was a boy around his age, he had blonde straight hair that was short and slicked back, it made him look aloof and a little effeminate, he had cold blue eyes, fussing around him was a small dumpy woman with curly brown hair that seemed to be held together by clothes pins. "Ahh, good day young sir, come and stand on this stool here I will be with you in a moment." As Harry did he noticed that the blonde boy was watching him, he obviously had taken in Harry's small frame and poor clothes, as instead of speaking he turned up his nose and muttered "Another filthy Muggleblood" under his breath.

The Boy left a few moments later, Harry managed to learn that they Boys surname was Malfoy when he had gone to pay for his goods, he put it in his mind to avoid the young snob who seemed to judge him on his clothes rather than the fact that he was a person, He also made up his mind to ask the professor what a "Muggleblood" was. It turned out that Madame Malkin was a very nice and jolly lady, who has started fitting him out with Hogwarts robes as soon as the words were out of his mouth, she did however stab him in the arm with a pin when she found out his name "Well bless my heart, the Boy-Who-Lived getting his first Hogwarts school robes from little old me, what a tale..." she said as she continued to walk around him adjusting the large swathes of black cloth "and what house do you suppose you'll be in at Hogwarts Mr Potter?" she asked "House?" Harry questioned," I don't know, do they mean anything or is it chosen at random?", "There are 4 Houses Mr Potter" Madame Malkin said, tugging at a sleeve that wouldn't change shape the way she wanted it too. "First there is Gryffindor, home the brave and courageous, however they do tend to be reckless, Ravenclaw is second, they are all fiercely intelligent and love their books, Third is the Hufflepuffs, my old house you know, who want loyal, hardworking people, last but not least there are the Slytherins, some say they are all evil, but mostly they are ambitious and cunning, Many pureblood families end up in Slytherin as they do pride themselves on their blood purity."

"If that's true", thought harry as she finished adjusting his school robes and set to trying out colours on him for his casual robes," then I'll probably a Ravenclaw, I'm intelligent and I love to learn, I'm not that reckless, I've never had anyone to be loyal too and I'm not that cunning so that rules out everyone else, I guess though that I won't know until I get to Hogwarts though". He hadn't realised his mind had wondered until he heard Madam Malkin cough discretely next to him. "That's everything deary, 2 sets of school robes and uniform, 3 casual robes in dark green, 2 pairs of black trousers, 2 pairs of blue trousers with matching shirt in a lighter blue, one pair of black wyvern hide boots and one pair of brown shoes, not to mention enough underwear and socks to last for the rest of the yer, all in all that's 1 Galleon and 7 Sickles please love." Walking out of the shop with his new clothes he looked around until he spotted the Professor, pacing up and down in front of a shop he noticed before Eyelops Owl Emporium, with a look that said she was thinking about something.

Harry rushed over, a little too quickly however as he tripped over one of the bags and almost took another tumble, he was caught however by a plump woman with flaming red hair. "Be Careful young man you could....." she started, before her eyes caught sight of the scar, just as she was about to open her mouth Harry interrupted her. "Please don't shout my name miss, please! I'm just Harry, nothing special." The woman looked down at him and smiled "I'm Molly Weasley dear, my son Ronald is starting Hogwarts this year to." A young looking gangly boy with flaming red hair and freckles dragged his head out the bag of sweets he was currently devouring at 100mph. Harry smiled at him "Hi, I'm Harry, Harry Potter" and stuck out his hand, the boy looked at him and then at his hand and grudgingly shook it, "Ron Weasley, look are you really Harry Potter?, where's your scar? You don't look like a hero! Do you remember what happened? ". At the questions Harry's face fell, would no-one at Hogwarts like him for him?

"Yes I am really Harry Potter, Yes I have the scar and no I don't remember what happened, thank you for catching me Mrs Weasley, I must be going." He turned and walked over to the professor who had noticed his approach, behind him he could hear Ron Weasley getting lambasted by his mother for being 'Rude and Obnoxious to the poor boy'. The professor looked at him and answered the question that had been bouncing around in his head for the past minute. "Not everyone will be like that Harry" she said with uncharacteristic kindness "there will be many people who will like you for you", "Thanks" sniffed Harry. "Now Mr Potter, as it is your birthday and as I am a teacher and therefore one of your guardians, I will get you a present, now I'm not sure you will need it but how about an owl! They make excellent pets and familiars", "an owl sounds wonderful thank you professor, and I had forgotten it was my birthday, the Dursley's never bothered with it" Harry said, not seeing the professor fight back tears as she processed his statement.

Entering the shop the first thing that struck you was the noise, there was such a number of hooting and squawking that it took a moment for your ears to adjust. The seconds was the smell, a dry musty smell that reminded harry of Mrs Figg's house. Eager to choose an owl Harry wandered past the cages, however each one felt wrong, some were too uptight, some looked at him with hatred and quite a few took a swipe at his fingers when he went close. He was starting to despair when out from the ceiling came a white blur that swooped down and landed on his shoulder hooting happily and burying its feathery face in his neck.

The shop keeper ran over, "Hedwig, I've told you not to keep attacking customers, oh....." "How much is it for this one?" Harry asked, reaching up and stroking the owl Hedwig's soft feathers, "You can take her for free, haven't been able to shift her for over a year, keeps attacking people, she nearly had that young Malfoy's finger when he was in ere earlier" the shop keeper said quickly, eager to be rid of the troublesome bird, after the professor paid 4 Sickles for a stand, cage and some owl food and treats as a 'Birthday gift' they left Harry staggering out of the shop. The professor stopped him took some of his many bags from him and with a tap of her wand shrunk them down. Hedwig had refused to go into a cage and was perched on Harry's shoulder eying the passers bye with what Harry thought looked like great mistrust.

The rest of the shopping took up most of the afternoon, in the book shop Harry went a bit mad and bought over 15 books (not including his school list) on topics such as Wizarding Customs, Pure or Not (The importance of blood), Famous Wizarding Families, And on a quick glance inside and seeing the name Potter, The book of behaviours befitting a young lord. He also got a gigantic book called Hogwarts: a History (43rd Edition circa 1530) and a small pamphlet with the title of Wandless Magic: the fact behind the legend. All in all he was pleased with his purchases and was bemused by the fact that such obviously valuable purchases only came to 4 galleons. He had never had money before and it was nice to be able to get some things for him, rather than wearing Dudley's old and worn out clothes and shoes.

As night was drawing to a close the professor and Harry walked back up towards the Leaky Cauldron. "Where will I go professor? I won't go back to the Dursley's, I can't professor, Please!" Harry was begging "For the rest of the summer Mr Potter we shall get you a room at the leaky cauldron, I will tell Tom the barkeep to keep a firm eye on you, please stick to the alley, do NOT go wandering off, we shall arrange something more permanent once you come to school with the Headmasters permission, if it's the last thing I do you will never have to go back to those horrible relatives of yours. Inside the letter you were given Mr Potter is your train ticket to Hogwarts. Be at Platform 9 ¾'s on September 1st at 12:00, do not be late, I will meet you there.". Harry couldn't believe his luck, no Dursley's ever again, no starving or name calling, no working from dawn till dusk. He followed the Professor into the pub, eager to see where he would be staying for the rest of the summer. It was only after the professor had left that he remembered that he had forgotten to ask her what a "Muggleblood" was.  
_  
__At Hogwart's school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Professor Albus Dumbledore,Headmaster and widely acknowledged greatest wizrd of his generation, was not amused. Firstly, without his permission, his headmistress had gone and delivered the potter boy's letter herself and taken him shopping. Then she somehow managed to break all of the monitoring charms he had on the boy by removing him from the Dursley's 'care' and had made him a ward of the school. Worst of all the school had accepted and he could feel its sentient magic eagerly awaiting the arrival of its 'child'. He was not amused, oh no he wasn't. Now his carefully laid plans had gone up in smoke, so he resorted to doing something he was good at, he sat, and he thought._

The rest of the summer was bliss for Harry, he read all the books he bought including Hogwarts: a History and started to implement their advice into his actions. You would never know that the charming young boy was an abused wreak only a month before, he was still a bit skinny but Tom's excellent food had filled him out and he had grown from the 4ft 9 he was when he arrived to a healthier 5ft2. Tom had also told him that because the alley was a magic centre the Ministry of Magic, run by a Mr Fudge he had found out, couldn't not detect magic he had practiced and practiced the spells in his Transfiguration and Charms books, he had found to his delight that in his mindscape several of the scrolls had gained more detail every time he learnt a spell or read a text book. Some of the scrolls that had only been scraps of paper with headings were now lists of spells and information that he could draw to the front of his mind with only the smallest amount of concentration.

He had also made a key purchase several days into his stay, towards the top end of the alley he had come across a small but interesting looking shop. Galistro's Shop of Trunks: Everything for the Modern Wizard It proclaimed in Large Yellow lettering. Now over the past few days Harry had discovered that, whilst wizards could do many wonderful things, very few were tidy and this shop was no exception. Trunks of all shapes and sizes lined the floor and walls, some were stacked on-top of other trunks.

"Can i elp you young sir, i am Galistro and these are my trunks, now is it just a standard school trunk for you today sir? or does sir want extra's?" he smiled the smarmy smile known only to salesmen, "Well i do need a trunk" said Harry thoughtfully, "I can't be carrying bags around all the time, what school trunks do you have, and do any have some extra space for books?". Glaistro smiled "Future 'claw then ey! Not a problem sir, not a problem, if you step over here sir we have my finest school/library trunk, i call it the libromax 1000 sir, a 2 by 2 trunk, good old british oak with a mahogany inlay, 3 compartments, one for casual, one for school and one for the books, it could be yours sire, yours for just 10 Galleon's. Trunks like this don't come along sir oh no". "I'll take it" said Harry, counting out the 10 heavy gold coins onto the desk. "I'll tell you what sir, because its you sir, I'll thrown in this featherlight charm as well sir, no extra cost" he winked at Harry "Pleasure doing buisness Mr Potter".

But, despite all the wonder the best of all though for Harry was that he had made a few friends, the first was another boy he met on his third day, a small, foppish, blond haired boy called Justin Finch-Fletchly who had shook his hand vigorously when they met inside the book shop and had talked non-stop for several hours before his obviously well-off parents had come. He had also run into a pair of Indian twins also starting first years, and although they looked identical they couldn't be more different. Parvati was always in and out of Madame Malkins looking at clothes and Harry thought she was a little bit vapid, whereas Padma was more of a tom-boy, who hid a fierce intelligence behind her shy personality.

The other one was someone who Harry was fast considering a best friend; they had met on the fourth day of Harry's stay in the Leaky Cauldron. Harry had come charging out of his room only to run into a fierce old dame with a green dress and an evil looking hat with a stuffed vulture on. She had rounded on him quicker than he though possible "Young man what is the meaning of this, didn't your parents..." Her she stopped and took in the boys face and he eyes had taken in his famous scar "Scion Potter, I am sorry about that remark, it was careless of me". "Think nothing of it ma'am, I should not have been running, but if you will excuse me, I am puzzled by your address of me." "You are scion of the ancient and noble house of Potter, you are able to take the mantle of lord-in-waiting at 13, your full lordship at 15, you should have been informed of this, Scion Potter" she said, looking down at him with an air of expectation. "I will explain more if you walk with me, come you must meet my grandson Neville, I am Augusta Longbottom, Dame of the House of Longbottom, Neville is my son's son and a scion in his own right." Neville Longbottom was a shy young man; he had a small amount of puppy fat that gave him an unhealthy complexion. He had brown hair cut in a style rather similar to a bowl cut and had light brown eyes. When they were first introduced Neville had jumped about a foot in the air, and had blushed and looked at the floor when his grandmother had told a rather embarrassing tale of how they had discovered that he was not a squib.

Once Harry had recovered from the seemingly barbaric story and had been explained what a squib was, he had asked Neville if he wanted to go for a walk round the alley. Away from the domineering presence of his grandmother Neville was a different person, he was funny and was actually very insightful. Whilst eating a Florean Fortescue ice cream they had decided to be friends and Neville had told Harry to write to him with any questions. Harry agreed, not only because he was curious but because Hedwig would have something to do.

They exchanged a letter every couple of days, the letters ranged from talking about their childhoods (each thought the other was worse off) to their dreams as well as the mundane stuff like what they had to eat or what each of them did that day. They agreed to meet on the platform 9 3/4's once the summer ended.

Soon though the greatest summer of Harry's young life came to end and as the temperature dropped and cold autumn winds started to whistle throughout the land Harry found himself in the middle of Kings Cross station staring at a wall between platforms 9 and 10. "Where is professor McGonagall?" thought Harry looking around nervously "she said she would be here" he said out loud, and as if by magic the stern professor appeared through the wall separating platforms 9 and 10. "Professor!" Harry shouted, drawing her attention, she smiled slightly when she saw him, "Follow me then Mr Potter, let us get t you off the Hogwarts."

_Meanwhile at Hogwart's__  
__Professor Dumbledore was not a happy man, his deputy headmistress had disappeared and he had just herd from Mrs Weasley that she had not seen the potter boy trying to get onto the platform, he sat at his desk and wondered, not for the first time if fate was laughing at him_

* * *

The Latin is:

(1) Burn this evil, cast it out  
(2) By the power of magic bind these two together so they are one

Again I hope you like what I've written! A review is always nice so if you could donate a few moments to let me know what you think I would be honoured!

7 Sickles is around £70, more than enough for a first time wand i think!


	3. There is something about Trains

**Chapter 3: There's something about trains that bring out the idiots**

_In which our hero catches a train, slaps a ferret and a weasel ponders what might have been, meeting Hogwarts for the first time_

**_*Hogwarts in bold and italics*_**

Professor!" Harry shouted, drawing her attention, she smiled slightly when she saw him, "Follow me then Mr Potter, and let us get you off to Hogwarts." And with that she beckoned Harry and his trolley through the wall. "With intent Mr Potter, you need to want to get onto the Platform" she called out before turning and vanishing. Harry stared at the wall, wanting to get onto the platform, he started out slowly, getting faster until he was practically sprinting across the station, the wall was getting closer and closer, he shut his eyes, and felt a strange sensation, it was like he had run into a wall of semi-fry syrup, he struggled through until a familiar voice with a Scottish accent said "Congratulations Mr Potter, on making it through the wall, welcome to Platform 9 and 3 quarters."

The Platform was fascinating, steam from the engine stalked through the air, shrouding the far end in a dense mist; the people dashing through it looked like shadows attacking the train. All around him in the entrance way vivid and colourful posters proclaiming a wide variety of products, from cauldrons to brooms to books. Also to his amazement and mortifying embarrassment there was a 'Harry Potter doll, new, this time with Hogwarts Robes and Wand', this embarrassment however was topped when Mrs Weasley walked past, looking in another direction and a young girl with flaming red hair grabbed her hand and pointed at the sign and said "Mum, can I have the new Boy-Who-Lived doll for Christmas, please......".

Harry focused his attention on the Train for the first time trying to avoid the searing heat in his cheeks. When he did manage to focus on the train his draw dropped, the engine was stunning, in deep read with shining silver steel wheels and golden piping & parts it looked like a train fit for royalty, steam bellowed from the copper plated funnel and floated down the roofs of the carriages, being forced down by cooler air, wreathing parts in mysterious smoke. The carriages themselves were a dark walnut colour with sections painted a deep purple, there were long windows that seemed to cover each carriage and divide it into compartments. Sneaking a glance in one of the windows Harry was pleased to see that he was correct about the compartments. Each one could seat 4-6 people depending on size and where outfitted with leather seats and racks overhead to store the trunks on.

Once Harry had drunk his fill of the magnificent machine in front of him he turned to the professor. "Professor McGonagall, I have arranged to meet my friend Neville on the platform, I think I can take it from here." She smiled a tight-lipped smile "Very well Mr Potter, I will see you at Hogwarts for your sorting" and with that she turned once in a full circle and vanished with a small crack, 'I have got to learn how to do that' thought Harry with a smile as he scoured the platform for Neville and his Gran, it wasn't long before a small area of smoke cleared and Harry caught a glimpse of Dame Longbottom's vulture hat.

"Neville" Harry called when he got closer, "good to see you, good morning Madame Longbottom" he bowed from the waist. "Greetings Mr Potter" the Longbottom matriarch said with a tilt of the head the only sign that she had acknowledged the bow. "Have you got everything Neville?" she said "Yes Gran, I'll see you at Christmas Gran, me and Harry had best find a seat before they are all taken" they exchanged an awkward hug and Harry looked away slightly embarrassed at the odd social dynamics of Neville and his Gran.

Harry and Neville boarded the train together and made their way to the rear of the last carriage. Finding it empty they both put their trunks on the overhead racks (it took two of them to deal with Neville's as there was no featherlight charm on it) and sat down looking out of the window that looked back onto the platform. Neither said anything, just watched the other parents of children sending of their child with love and affection. Both had a fairly wistful look on their faces as they imagined their parents sending them off to Hogwart's for the very first time. Down the Platform Harry noticed the Weasley boy, Ronald, get his nose scrubbed thoroughly by his mother before being took up in a hug that Harry was sure would snap the questioning gits spine. He also noted the Malfoy boy, shaking hands pompously with his father and mother before walking onto the train like he owned it.

Harry and Neville were startled from their gazing by the sound of their compartment door opening. Turning around they saw a girl their age, she was of average height and build with frizzy brown hair, brown eyes and slightly bucked front teeth. "May I, Sit here" she said in a posh oxford accent. "Of course" Harry said, with a tone that said he really didn't mind either way "I'm Scion Harry Potter of the house of Potter and this is Scion Neville Longbottom of the house of Longbottom" He gestured to Neville who was watching the girl as if to gauge her reaction "I am Hermione Granger, Daughter of Daniel and Emma Granger (1)" she replied staring at each of them in the eyes as if daring them to say anything.

Harry broke down first "Take a seat Hermione, it's a pleasure to meet you, ignore the scion stuff please, we're really just Harry and Neville" "If you wanted me to ignore it why would you bring it up?" Hermione asked with what appeared to be genuine curiosity. Neville spoke up "It's a traditional pureblood wizarding greeting, even though Harry here is a half blood and has to grovel to my superior might (here he puffed out his chest and struck a ridiculous pose), Harry is a scion and therefore worthy of my awe-inspiring respect". Hermione giggled as Harry punched him in the arm "What Neville is saying is that it is a polite way to say hello". Hermione turned and looked at Harry "I've read about you, in the fall of the dark arts and great wizards of the 20th Century", "I have too" Harry said "And as I have never been interviewed and there were no other witnesses I guess its lies".

Hermione looked affronted at the thought that her books had been lying to her before her relief at having people her age took over and she asked "So what house do you think you'll be in? I think Ravenclaw would suit me best but if I get a choice I will ask for Gryffindor as that's where Headmaster Dumbledore was and that's where you'll be" she finished, pointing at Harry. "Actually I don't think I will be, I recon, and Neville agrees that I'll be a claw" "I'll be a Hufflepuff I think" Neville said "Can't see me going anywhere else". In the now comfortable silence Hermione processed this information and, with the train pulling away from the station, she let herself think.

Ever since she had got her letter Hermione Jean Granger had devoured book after book on Magic, especially Magical History, she had been thrilled to find out that Harry Potter, The Boy-Who-Lived would be in her year at Hogwarts, she had read all her books and was sure she had knowledge in almost every magical subject, she had been wowed by the train and the station and had got on at the back of the train after saying goodbye to her parents who had to hurry back to their dental surgery. She had gone into the first carriage and seen two boys her age looking out the window at the platform. Making friends had never been her strong point so she had steeled herself and entered. She had been shocked and a little bit dismayed when the boys had introduced themselves in the peculiar way, stating rank name and family, it didn't occur to here at the time that she was talking to THE Boy-Who-Lived. Then to find he was friendly and nice and didn't want to be a Gryffindor had got her thinking, the only reason she had wanted to go there over Ravenclaw was to try and get to know Harry Potter, and here she was in a carriage with him, talking.

Soon the silence was broken and the three got talking. Harry and Neville described their childhood's and when Harry had mentioned being a ward of the school Hermione had gotten excited and had babbled something about private quarters and a summer in the library. They were joined a few moments later by Padma, who told Harry that she was desperate to get away from the beauty twins; she was quickly in a conversation with Hermione over transfiguration methods. Harry and Neville looked at each other, shrugged and started to talk about normal things like the weather; Neville also introduced Harry to the game of Gobstones, a game similar to checkers put when you took a piece it squirted water at you, Quick reflexes where a must and Neville was a lot wetter that Harry was by the time they had finished.

About an hour in there was a knock on the door and before any of the four could answer it the Pale young Malfoy strolled in, behind him were two boys who Harry swore were part troll, they took up positions on either side. "You are Harry Potter", he said looking at Neville "No" said Neville, he pointed at Harry "Harry is Harry Potter". The Malfoy boy looked between them for a minute before making a decision and looking at Harry. "Okay, you are Harry Potter, I am Draco Malfoy, you should come with me you know, and I'll show you the right people", "The Right people?" Harry asked "Yeah, not near-squibs, muggleblood's and wogs" the Malfoy sneered, looking down his nose at Neville, Hermione and Padma. This sentence was barely out of his mouth when Harry backhanded him, hard.

Malfoy fell to the floor of the compartment clutching his jaw, "What was that for? You wait till my father..." he didn't get much further as Harry tore into him. "Listen you spoilt arrogant bigot, in this room are 2 scions of ancient and noble houses an heiress of an Indian pureblood family as well our friend, what makes you think these are not the right people?" Draco Malfoy didn't comment until he had reached the door, when he turned and spat "You'll get yours Potter, you'll go the way of your parents, just you wait! Goyle, Crabbe with me". The door slammed on his way out.

"You didn't have to do that Harry" Padma said, "No? But I wanted to, you are my friends, some of the first friends I ever had, I would never cast you aside for that" and with that statement Harry pulled out a book from his pocket and began to read. The remaining trio looked at each other and started a conversation; they allowed Harry to continue reading until the lady came round with a trolley full of Wizarding snacks; Harry had never had many sweets or had the money to get them so he did what anyone in his position would do, he splurged, buying at least one of everything. Neville was a bit more considerate, only buying 'chocolate frogs', both Padma and Hermione had packed lunches.

_Ronald Bilious Weasley was an uncomplicated sort of a guy, he ate, he played chess and he thought about a time where his favourite team the Chudley Cannon's would win the Quidditch league. Today was the day he was taking up his place as a Weasley at Hogwarts, there had been one at Hogwarts for the past 15 years when Bill Weasley started before Ron was even born. Today however had not gone to plan so far, he was told by his mother, whose word he believed more than anyone else, that today was the day he became best friends with Harry Potter, The Boy-Who-Lived, and they would have wild adventures and save the world several times over, just like the stories she would tell him as a child. However so far he had seen neither hide nor hair of Harry Potter and although the two boys Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan were fun he couldn't help but wonder as he glanced briefly out of the window what might of happened if he had got on the back of the train and wasn't frightened away by the stern looking professor._

The rest of the train journey was uneventful for our foursome, they played many games of Gobstones and Wizarding Chess in which the pieces would fight each other for the squares and a move depended on how well your piece could scrap. Harry had a pawn that advanced the entire length of the board cutting a swath through Hermione's pieces before finally being stopped 1 square before the end by the desperate charge of her queen. Outside however the lights were dimming and darkness was settling in, suddenly a voice boomed throughout the train "Hogsmede Station – 10 minutes to arrival, pupils are reminded that they are to be in school uniform and they are to leave their trunks on the train". Harry and Neville stood outside the door while the girls got changed and then visa versa. Then the train began to slow onto a platform bathed in artificial light, a sign in cursive writing proclaimed "Hogsmede – Population 350".

The Platform was a bustling mess of confusion, people were scrambling everywhere. Suddenly a loud deep voice boomed over the platform "Firsties, all First years over 'ere, rest o' ye get ta the carriages". Following the loud voice they were confronted by the largest man they had ever seen easily 8 foot high with a black bushy beard and small twinkling black eyes, he looked like a giant. "Welcome Firsties, M'Names Hagrid, we'll be taking ta boats to Hogwarts" he said in a rustic voice that reminded Harry and Hermione of the farmers that appeared in their primary school work, turning he took them on a pathway lit by torches to a large wooden jetty in which there was a flotilla of boats.

The Boats where small and sat four so naturally the four friends took one close to the back, Hedwig who had refused to be left alone on the train was perched on Harry's shoulder took one look at the boat and hooted, she took off and flew away over the lake. "Aren't you worried about your owl Harry?" asked Hermione "Nah, she'll find me again" said Harry as they all managed to get seated without falling in. A fate not shared by everyone and there was a single solitary splash as Ronald Weasley was pushed in by Draco Malfoy after an argument over sharing boats and had to be rescued by Hagrid.

The Journey across the lake was peaceful and calm, there was no wind and the lake was as clear as glass as they floated past a large hill a spectacular sight left everyone gasping. In the side of the hill lit up in glorious splendour was a magnificent castle. With 4 towers that shone and a huge hall with large windows in which the flickering light shone like a lighthouse beacon across the lake sending sparkles of light flitting across the lakes surface. The Castle was large and Harry couldn't wait to see what it looked liked during the day. He kept staring as it got closer and closer, each time looking more and more majestic. "DUCK!" shouted Hagrid as the boats appeared a low opening in the hillside and one they had passed over 2 feet of solid rock they arrived onto a jetty. Stood on it watching the boats arrive was Professor McGonagall, casting an eagle like glare over the new Hogwarts first years.

Her voice carried over the cavern and let all of the first years know that her word was law. "First Years, You are to follow me, I am taking you to an anteroom where you will wait until I come and get you, there will be no misbehaving, follow me!" Through winding corridors she led them, on the wall portraits turned to look at them and they heard whispers about new blood at the school.

Harry was having an interesting walk, not only because the castle corridors were full of fascinating items, but because he had a voice in his head. It had started as soon as he put his foot on Hogwart's school **_"Hello my ward"_** a sensual female voice had echoed throughout his mindscape, _**"I am Hogwarts, I am your guardian, do not worry my child, I will keep you safe"**_. It is very disconcerting hearing a strange voice in your mind, it is even more disconcerting when you feel that voice walking through your mind and critiquing your mindscape. Harry made a vow to himself to have a look at what the voice had done to his mind once he was alone it whatever dorm he was in. The voice of the castle had then started explaining all about the castle and the houses, giving a running commentary of past events, people in the portraits, it was like a continuing history lecture of the most fascinating kind, it ended when they arrived in a large room, upon entering the room the voice stopped the commentary and spoke "_**I'll leave you until your house is chosen my young one, no matter what house you will be in I will watch over you",**_ the presence in his mind dimmed, it was still there, he could feel it in the back of his mind.

Professor McGonagall took centre stage "In a few moments I will walk you into the great hall to be sorted, when I call your name you will walk to the stool in the middle of the hall, put on the sorting hat and be sorted, from there you will go to your house table. Am I understood?" "Yes Professor" the assembled children chanted. "Good, now stand up straight and follow me". The Professor turned at flung open two large doors, walking through the new Hogwarts students got a glimpse of the hall for the first time and were stunned by the size of it, it was as large as a Olympic swimming pool, in the centre was a long table, placed on a raised dais, on which the staff were seated, gazing out over the children. There were four large oak tables with long benches along each side and seated on the benches were at least 500 children all looking at the new first years.

Professor McGonagall strode forth and spoke in a commanding voice that echoed across the room "May the Sorting Begin........."

.........................................................................................

Hope you enjoy, next time, the sorting, a meeting with Dumbledore, and a meeting of minds!

any tips and hints are greatly appreciated, reviews as well ;-)


	4. The Sorting of the Phoenix

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters, locations etc... Although I would like Luna on a long term loan.

**Chapter 4: The Sorting of the Phoenix**

_In which our hero gets sorted and finds out some interesting information and there is a meeting of minds_

_***Hogwarts in bold and italic***_

Professor McGonagall strode forth and spoke in a commanding voice that echoed across the room "May the Sorting Begin........."

A chant arose from the assembled children as a elder boy and girl, marked by a badge on their robes as the head boy and girl walked in carrying a stool at shoulder height so everyone could see it, on top of which was an old, brown, battered, pointed wizards hat. "Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts" echoed throughout the great hall, slowly getting louder and louder before Professor McGonagall took one step forward and the hall was plunged into silence. The silence was deafening in its completeness, no one breathed, no one coughed or sneezed, it was as if in that one moment deafness prevailed. It was in this moment that Harry glanced up and saw the night sky, the roof was paved in stars and the view was incredible. Harry knew he would always remember this singular perfect moment.

Then to the shock of all the first years the brim of the hat opened to form a mouth and the sorting hat spoke. "I am the sorting hat, for more than 1000 years I have sorted the brightest and the best and now more come before me to be sorted and defined by the powers that the founders gifted to me. Those of you worthy of being Lions of Gryffindor may bravery and courage guide your actions. Those of you worthy of being a Badger of Hufflepuff may your loyalty and ability to work shine through. Those of you worthy of being a Raven of Ravenclaw may your logic and intelligence raise you to new heights. And finally to those you sorted to be the Snakes of Slytherin may your cunning and ambition guide your path. Its voice echoed through the silence before the hall erupted into cheers.

Professor McGonagall raised a hand and silence one again blossomed in the hall. "Abbott, Hannah" she called out, a girl with a pink face and blonde pigtails walked forward and placed the hat on her head, it resized and nestled on her ears, a moment went by, then the hat's brim opened and its voice rang out to every corner of the great hall "HUFFLEPUFF", the table underneath the badger symbol erupted in cheers. Yellow and black piping appeared on the girls' robes and the badger symbol appeared on her right breast, marking her as a Hufflepuff.

"Bones, Susan" a cute but slightly cubby redhead came forward next, she too went to Hufflepuff. "Boot, Terry" was the first to join the Ravenclaw table, his robes bring piped in blue, the symbol of the raven adoring his chest, and he was joined a few seconds later by "Brocklehurst, Mandy". A tall, slim blonde called Lavender Brown was the first to go to the Gryffindor table, cheers and catcalls accompanied her as the piping on her robes turned red and gold and a golden lion appeared on her chest.

"Bullstrode, Millicent" a huge brunette strode forth and became the first Slytherin, her robes gaining green and silver piping, the Slytherin table, Harry noticed, did not cheer like the others, merely politely applauded their newest arrival as she sat down. As the sorting continued Harry waited until one of the members of his carriage were sorted and a few minutes later "Granger, Hermione" was called. Harry watched his bushy haired friend restrain herself from running to the hat in her eagerness to be sorted, as she sat Harry waited nervously! "RAVENCLAW" the hat shouted and Hermione walked over the table beaming, she turned once she had greeted Mandy and looked at him as if to say that he better be in Ravenclaw with her, Harry merely smiled at her in return as "Greengrass, Daphne" joined the Slytherin table.

"Longbottom, Neville" was soon called and Harry eagerly watched his best friend stride to the hat. Neville's confidence was the highest it had ever been and it was only a few moments before the hat shouted "HUFFLEPUFF" to the assembled hall. Neville turned and grinned at Harry as he walked over to the Badger table and sat down next to Hannah Abbott and engaged her in conversation. Harry was pleased for his friend; he knew that his grandmother had been putting pressure on Neville to go into Gryffindor like his parents. This ensured not only that Neville could forge his own path and get out from the shadow of his parent's but the chance for Neville to be friends with Harry as he had heard that Gryffindor's rarely made friends outside their own house.

"Malfoy, Draco" was called and the young man swaggered forward, the hat had hardly been on his head before it shouted "SLYTHERIN", he flounced over to his goon's Crabbe and Goyle who had been sorted earlier in the ceremony. Harry thought that the young Malfoy looked far too smug for himself, that thought was interrupted however by Harry's stomach reminding him that he was hungry, he hoped that the rest of the ceremony would end quickly.

The last person Harry was keeping an eye on was Padma Patil; she was the first of the Patil Twins to be sorted and looked rather nervous as she made her way to the stool. Harry hoped that Padma would get her wish of being in Ravenclaw, and he was delighted when the sorting hat shouted out "RAVENCLAW" and he watched Padma run over to Hermione at the Ravenclaw table and sit next to her, the two of them exchanged a hug and excited conversation, only turning when Padma's sister Parvati went to Gryffindor.

Then it was Harry's turn. "Potter, Harry", Professor McGonagall's statement had murmurs throughout the hall as Harry strode purposely forward, he could have sworn he heard Lavender Brown sigh as he walked past and several of the older girls were eyeing him in a way that was more than a little bit uncomfortable. As soon as he sat on the chair and put the hat on his head the deep silence filled the hall as the students and staff awaited the sorting of Harry James Potter, Saviour of the Wizarding World.

As Harry sat there the voice of the sorting hat echoed in his mind "Mr Potter, I have never seen a mindscape this extraordinary, my goodness, what is this, there are people in your mindscape, extraordinary, don't worry I will keep those connections a secret! Now then Mr Potter onto your sorting, you have a sharp mind with a thirst for Knowledge, you are loyal and hardworking, you have cunning but not much ambition so that rules out the house of snakes, likewise you have bravery and courage but not the lack of self preservation that many lions have so that will rule of Gryffindor, that leaves us with Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, any preference?" "Not really, I have friends in either house, but I think I will suit Ravenclaw better". "Okay then Mr Potter, I sort you into RAVENCLAW" the last word was shouted to the hall

The Ravenclaw table erupted into cheers, screaming "Potter, Potter, Potter" until their voices were horse, Hermione and Padma beamed at him as he shunned the offer of a space next to an older Chinese girl to sit in-between them. Harry's sorting had the Gryffindor table stunned as they had been sure that the Boy-Who-Lived would join them, likewise on the Slytherin table many were re-evaluating their opinion as the B-W-L joined someone other than their arch rivals. Professor McGonagall was pleased for Harry, but a little bit sad at the same time, she had wished him to be a Lion like his parents had been before him. Professor Flitwick, head of Ravenclaw house was bouncing up and down in his chair and Professor Quirrel and the Headmaster had an interested look on their faces.

Professor Albus Dumbledore was seething inside although he made it his mission to show the world the wise grandfather figure that the wizarding world adored. He loved the power and glory his position held as the Light Lord of the wizarding world. He thought to himself how badly things had gone and that he may have to reign in his deputy headmistress as she was the start of his problems, could no-one see the boy needed to be weak, be malleable, and be clay to his touch. How else would harry die to defeat Voldemort once he had returned. And now he had to re-think everything. He wondered what influence the school would have if any on the boys remaining childhood, he shrugged it off as minimal, 'I mean' he thought to himself with a chuckle 'what could a castle do?'

Harry Potter, newly joined Ravenclaw Class of 1992, sat with his friends and year mates and watched as Ronald Weasley joined Gryffindor and Blaise Zabini, a pale black haired girl, joined Slytherin. She was the last person to be sorted. Harry took in the sight of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore as he rose; he shone with power and wisdom, but at the same time looked like your grandfather. This made Harry a little bit suspicious, he had always been wary of figures of authority, ever since the teachers had believed Dudley's lies over his truths, in fact Professor McGonagall had been the first adult in a while he had trusted.

The Headmaster spoke "Welcome, children to another year at Hogwarts, a few notices before we start the feast, Firstly there is a list pinned to the caretaker Mr Filch's office of banned items which if you are caught with one will result in detention, he also asks me to remind you that there will be no magic in the corridors. Secondly, the Forbidden Forest is just that, forbidden, there are more terror's in there than you could possibly imagine. Thirdly, the third floor corridor on the east wing is out of bounds under pain of death (Gasps filled the hall at this statement). And finally, a few words to begin the feast, Nitwit, Blubber Oddment, Tweak! Let the Feast begin".

The last part spoken loudly as food sprung up from the tables; there was more food than Harry had ever seen, Piles of potatoes in every style, burgers, sausages, steak, pies, vegetables galore. Harry sighed in delight and piled his plate high with food. He hadn't eaten since lunchtime and he was starving. Between mouthfuls of food Harry listened to the people around him talking, he noticed that several of the boys in his year, sat opposite him, were giving him glances, so he introduced himself to Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein; he had also tried to introduce himself to a Michael Corner, but was shunned. The boys chatted about several topics of magical conversation, laughing and joking as dinner cleared into desert and then as the deserts plates vanished the Headmaster rose "Prefects, take your new charges to their dorms, classes start tomorrow at 10, breakfast starts at 7, timetables are issued at 8:30, sleep well children."

2 of the Ravenclaw prefects, a Penelope Clearwater and a Roger Davis, guided the new Ravenclaw's towards the West side of the castle on the second floor, until they turned towards the south-western tower, coming to a halt by a large wooden door with a large knocker, shaped like a raven perched on a branch, as they approached the raven's head swivelled towards the group and it croaked out a rhyme "_No legs have I to dance, No lungs have I to breathe, No life have I to live or die, And yet I do all three. What am I?"_ Rodger Davis turned and spoke to the assembled children, to enter our common room you have to answer the riddle and then giver our password, does anyone want to give it a try, no one moved until Harry stuck his hand in the air "Yes Harry?", "I think its Fire, as fire dances when it moves, it needs air to stay alight, therefore you could say it breathes, and we call fire a living element and when we put it out we say it dies, so I say its fire" Roger Davis smiled as he watched the young Claw answer 'not good enough for Ravenclaw indeed' he snorted to himself. The Raven grinned and asked for the password "Perfidious Newton", said the male prefect as the door swung open to show them the Ravenclaw common room for the first time.

The Room was large and circular with bookcases on all the walls, stopped only by large bay windows from which you could see out over the grounds towards a stadium which Harry assumed that the wizarding sport of Quidditch was played and two doors, each with a stylized man and woman on. On half of the room had large comfy chairs and sofas, each had a table next to them to put books on. The Other half of the room had circular tables with 4 chairs around them so that students could sit and work on their homework. It was a stunning room, the walls and book cases were a deep blue, the floor was wooden oak planks, giving the room a classic look and the room was as quiet as any library Harry had been in.

"A few points of merit before we send you upstairs to bed" said Penelope Clearwater. "There will be a meeting tomorrow evening in the common room for your first years in which our head of house will explain what he expects from his Ravenclaws. Also do not try and enter the opposite sex's dorms, they are charmed against it and will alert the prefects to your presence, finally I would get a good night's sleep as tomorrow will be a busy day, your year is clearly marked on the door, goodnight". With that she ushered the Ravenclaw first years towards the doors.

As Harry walked through the door and was astonished to see that instead of the spiral staircase he expected there was a long corridor. The First door on the left hand side had 'Class of 92 – 1st Years' written in golden ink onto the wood, there was a note pinned to the door 'Please put your wand into the lock, this will key you into the dorm' each boy did so and watched as a silvery blue glow surrounded the door each time. Harry opened the door and lead the 3 other boys into the room.

Harry was expecting it to be a dorm room but was surprised to see that it lead into a smaller version of the common room, there were four bookcases, each with their name on the top and another note pinned to each one. Harry walked over and read the note attached to his bookcase 'This is your private bookcase; once you have inserted your wand into the keyhole on the right hand side no-one will be able to take books but you.' Thinking that this was a very useful idea, Harry wasted no time in keying himself into the book shelf. The rest of the room had 4 comfy seats next to each bookcase and a single circular table with four chairs around it. There were also four doors, each with a student's name on it, Harry's was the 1st door on the right, followed by Terry Boot, then Michael Corner, with Anthony Goldstein 1st on the left hand side. There was also a door to a bathroom which when Harry entered he saw had four small cupboards a shower with wooden walls and door, and a toilet and bidet, Harry was relieved to see that the door locked from the inside. "Night guys" Harry said as he entered his room for the first time, receiving "Night's" from Terry and Anthony and a grunt from Michael.

Harry's room was a light blue, with a large four poster bed with dark blue curtains around it, it was lit by a 'Lumos Lamp', to work it you had to put your wand in the base and say Lumos and the bulb would light, from then on you could control the brightness with a dial on the base of the lamp, there was also a number of bookshelves on the wall, a small cupboard and a chest of drawers. Harry was delighted to see that his trunk had made it to the base of the bed 'tomorrow I will unpack' he said to himself, before undressing into his PJ's which were placed on the pillow, and wandering out to clean his teeth. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Harry awoke for the first time deep inside his mindscape, the library, where for so long it had looked like it would fall apart due to disrepair was now new and gleaming, the windows shone and the area outside was now grass with a stone cobbled pathway leading up to the library door, entering, Harry saw that the shelves were spotless and the whole area was clean, in one corner, Harry was stunned to see a sleeping bird, it was as large as a vulture, but looked like a hawk, its feathers where red and gold and fire flickered over the tips of its wings, it was a humbling sight_**. "That my dearest ward is a Phoenix, I believe you have met, his name is Flamefire"**_ The soft sultry voice of Hogwarts spoke behind him.

Harry spun and gazed upon Hogwarts, she appeared as a woman aged around 30 years old, with long black hair and shining green eyes, she was thin and beautiful, looking for the entire world like a supermodel, worthy of any catwalk. "_**My Ward"**_ she spoke again and Harry felt something break inside him as he ran and hugged her, taking the visualisation of the school by surprise, she could feel her ward crying into her chest mumbling about the first time he felt that he belonged to a family and deep in her stones she felt that she was complete again, a feeling not felt since the last of the founders disappeared.

After a while they parted and Harry sat down the floor of the library in his mind and watched as his (He was unsure of what word to describe the visualisation of the castle) pulled out a chair from nowhere and sat down. _**"Listen closely my ward, my child, I have important news, firstly there are a few in this castle who would do you harm for what you have achieved in your short life, do not trust the Defence or Potions Professors as darkness taints their souls. Be wary of the Headmaster, he was a great man but he has fallen, maybe it will be you who will redeem him as he no longer listens to me! Secondly my young child never doubt that I will protect you, I will always walk in your mind, you will be a guiding light in this school during times of darkness, I can feel it, tread the line between light and dark carefully my child as both sides temptations are great but it is only combined that you can triumph. Lastly my ward, if you ever need a person to listen to you, just think my name, you can call me 'Noticia', from the Latin meaning knowledge. I will leave you now to dream my ward, sleep well, I will watch over you". **_And with that statement the mindscape faded from view and Harry slept.


	5. Only idiots pick on guys with castles

**Chapter 5: On why it is never a good idea to pick on the guy with the castle in his head.**

_Meeting the Head of House, meeting a potions master, a trip to the Hospital win and meeting's with the headmaster._

"_**I will leave you now to dream my ward, sleep well, I will watch over you". **_And with that statement the mindscape faded from view and Harry slept.

Harry awoke the next morning more awake and refreshed than he had ever been, he recalled the conversation with Noticia and was warmed by her kind words, and 'finally' he thought 'someone cares for me'. It was a wonderful feeling; Harry got changed into his Ravenclaw robes and stepped out into chaos. Terry as half dressed with his nose in a book and Anthony was banging on the door of the bathroom telling Michael to hurry up or they would be late for breakfast. As Michael stepped out of the bathroom half-awake Harry stepped in grinning at Anthony. After trying in vain to keep his black hair from spiking out all over the place he left them to it and wandered into the Ravenclaw common room, he wasn't surprised to see Hermione and Padma sat round one of the tables reading one of the books from the common room already in their uniforms.

"Good morning fair ladies" said Harry bowing giving a wave of his hand, "How are we today? Have you undertaken breakfast?"

"We were waiting for you Harry, breakfast has only just started; I thought we could avoid the rush" said Padma, trying to get Hermione to put down a book on transfiguration theory. She eventually succeeded and the trio headed off to the great hall. They made it in good time, every stair seemed to meet them and although Harry was unaware of this he was leading the two girls, following the directions of Noticia in his head, they never made a wrong turn until the looming doors of the great hall were visible at the end of the corridor. The doors swung open as they approached and the trio stepped into a hall just awakening to the new day.]

Only Headmaster Dumbledore was sat at the staff table, he smiled at Harry as they entered and beckoned him over, Harry was a little nervous but he quashed the feeling and walked over to the Headmaster, bowed slightly and waited for him to speak. "Good morning Mr. Potter, I trust you are enjoying your new home?"

"Yes I am professor Dumbledore sir, it's fantastic, I can't wait to see what she looks like during the day sir, last night she looked breathtaking" In his mind Harry felt the presence of Noticia smile and a warmth spread through him. It was at this point that he felt something brush lightly against his mind and a surprised look shot across the headmasters face before fading.

"There are several things that I need to discuss with you, would you be so kind as to visit my office tonight at eight, I shall get Professor Flitwick to guide you, now go and enjoy your breakfast, I would recommend the mint humbugs" the Professor said, ushering them away with a grandfatherly smile. Once they had left the smile left his face, several things about that last conversation bothered him, firstly was how the Potter boy had referred to the castle as a she? Did this mean that the castle had announced itself? Could this be dangerous to the wards? (he shrugged of the mental frown the castle gave him at that statement) and secondly where on earth did the boy learn occulemancy, it was an obscure branch of magic and as far as he was aware only himself, Professor Snape and Lord Voldemort were masters of Leglimacy and Occulemancy, did this mean that Voldemort had already gotten to the boy? This did not bode well he was sure of it, but he was unsure as to who it did not bode well for.

Meanwhile at the Ravenclaw table Harry, sandwiched between Hermione and Padma was busily constructing an enormous bacon sandwich, one slice of lightly toasted bread, add butter then tomato pickle, then 5 slices of cheddar, 3 bacon slices, 2 crisp lettuce leaves topped with another slice of lightly toasted bread, with butter and mayo. Harry grinned as he took a bite 'Delicious' he thought to himself smiling. After they had all eaten and drank their fill, the trio watched the rest of the school walk or in some cases stagger into the hall. They were about to get up and leave when they were stopped by the prefect "Penny" Clearwater, who showed them to the common room last night. "Professor Flitwick will be in the common room at 9:00 for handing out timetables and there will be a house meeting as well as your meeting tonight, don't be late". The trio left and once again followed Harry back to the common room. Once there Hermione rounded on Harry.

"How do you know where you're going, you didn't put a foot wrong all the way to the Great Hall and back!" she said, semi angrily. She looked slightly mad and had a finger pointed at him. Harry though quickly to himself, did he lie to his friends or did he tell them the truth, Noticia's voice echoed through his mind _**"Tell them a half truth; they are not ready to learn the full truth, even though they are your friends"**_. Harry thought quickly, before deciding on a course of action "Hermione, you know I am a ward of Hogwarts, well this comes as one of the perks, knowledge of the castle and grounds means I will never get lost."

Hermione's face turned thoughtful, then she smiled at him, "Sorry Harry I forgot about you being a ward, that would be really useful, I will be following you around until I find my bearings, now what else have you noticed?" her face took on an eager but at the same time fiercely interested. Harry merely smiled, "Give me a month or so Hermione, I only got here yesterday." She grinned and looked away suddenly shy realising that she had almost started a fight with one of her first friends, Harry was not having an uncomfortable moment on his first day so he pounced on her and proceeded to tickle her, Padma joined in a few moments later and within moments that had progressed to a came of tag and they were darting in and around the tables of the Ravenclaw common room, taunting each other as they were caught and.

They were interrupted by the arrival of the other Ravenclaw first years that had also been up for an early breakfast. The group sat and chatted amicably at the front of the room as the remainders of Ravenclaw house trooped in and took up stations, there was silence when the 7th year prefect came in and sat down. The house sat in silence until the common room door swung open and Professor Flitwick ambled in.

The Professor was small, only around 4' 3" high, he had a green tinge to his skin and had a brilliant yellow ring round the pupils of his blue eyes which made Harry think of the goblin eyes that he had seen in Gringotts Bank. He wore deep blue robes that must have been custom made to fit his odd frame, he had a smile on his face as he entered and with a wave of his wand floated himself up onto the last remaining chair in the common room.

"Welcome back everybody, I trust you had a good summer? (Murmurs of assent were heard around the room) firstly, let us welcome our new first years, stand up please (they rose) thank you and be seated. Now to you I must press the values of Ravenclaw house, we expect you to work hard, and to try your best academically. If you get any grade below an acceptable, that is a Poor or Troll grade without due reason you will get a detention with myself, if you think you have been graded unfairly bring the piece of work to me and I will discuss it with your teacher and try and see why they graded you as they did, Ravenclaw house does not bully other houses, also as you can see we have a rather large personal library, please stick to your year sections, if you want to read higher material you have to come and speak to me, I hope you enjoy your stay. To the rest of you I have little to say other than to take the headmaster's warning seriously, I would not like a Ravenclaw to die because of stupidity" He waved his wand and 7 piles of paper appeared on 7 of the work tables "There are your timetables, first years if you have any questions write them down and we will discuss them at our meeting tonight, we shall meet here at 08:30 this evening, dismissed" he turned and left.

Harry and the other Ravenclaw first years walked over to the table, as Harry had suspected they all had the same timetable, it looked liked this

**Monday**

**8:30 – 10:00** Free

**10:00-12:00** Potions (With Hufflepuff)

******Lunch**

**13:00-15:00** Charms (With Gryffindor)

**15:00-16:30** Transfiguration (With Gryffindor)

**Tuesday**

**8:30 – 10:00** History of Magic (With Slytherin)

**10:00-12:00 **Free

******Lunch**

**13:00-15:00** Defence against the Dark Arts (With Hufflepuff)

**15:00-16:30 **Free

**Wednesday**

**8:30 – 10:00** Charms (With Gryffindor)

**10:00-12:00** Defence against the Dark Arts (With Hufflepuff)

******Lunch**

**13:00-15:00** Potions (With Hufflepuff)

**15:00-16:30** Transfiguration (With Gryffindor)

**Thursday**

**8:30 – 10:00** History of Magic (With Slytherin)

**10:00-12:00 **Free

******Lunch**

**13:00-15:00** Herbology (With Hufflepuff)

**15:00-16:30** Care of Magical Creatures (With Slytherin)

**Friday**

**8:30 – 10:00 **Free

**10:00-12:00** Herbology (With Hufflepuff)

******Lunch**

**13:00-15:00** Care of Magical Creatures (With Slytherin)

**15:00-16:30 **Free

**Evening Lessons**

**Tuesday**: 7pm - 9pm Astronomy (With Gryffindor)

**Friday:** 7pm - 9pm Astronomy (With Gryffindor)

Harry sighed; there were a lot of free spaces, but then again, there were an awful lot of lessons, he couldn't wait to have charms and transfiguration, he wasn't sure about potions, from the books he had read over the summer he thought it sounded quite simple, kind of like cooking, and he was good at cooking, he was pleased that he had all the first year information stored in his mindscape. There were two subjects that he wasn't so confident in, History of Magic, in which he had found incredibly boring and Care of Magical Creatures, something in which he had not read up on.

They had potions first and left with 15 minutes to get to the classroom, which was situated down in the dungeons, Harry was amazed that the timetables they did not have classrooms on, there was a map of the school on the back of the timetable which was meant to show you how to get to the classroom if you held your wand to it but it was almost too small to be any use, it was at this point that he again thanked Noticia in his mind giving him directions, the girls were pleased to as it meant that they were on time for their first lesson.

Harry soon had a crowd of first years behind him as he strode down to the dungeons, as he passed older years in the corridor he could hear whispers, "That's him there, yeah the tallish one, doesn't he look noble, he's so cute etc..." this went on until he descended a slopping corridor down to the dungeons. As the Ravenclaws arrived, the door of the potions classroom swung open with a long creak that would have been at home in a haunted house.

The potions classroom as dark, with no windows, the room was lit by 6 torches on each of the two long walls, with 4 on the back wall; at the front was a desk and a blackboard. The Rest of the room was filled with dark wooden workstations; there were two chair stools by each station, it seemed that Potions was a team effort.

As the Hufflepuffs entered, Harry greeted Neville and they got a seat together, Hermione and Padma were sat in the front workstation on the right hand side of the room so Harry and Neville sat behind them. They were talking about their respective common rooms (it appeared that the Hufflepuff common room was full of bean bag chairs, Harry was slightly jealous) when the door slammed open and the professor entered.

The Professor, Severus Snape cut quite a sight as he strode in, robes billowing behind him giving him a dark and dangerous appearance. He was quite tall; easily around 6 foot high, his hair was black and hung about his face like a curtain, and it also appeared to be quite greasy. He had pale skin and dark brown almost back eyes and a hooked nose; he looked unpleasant and judging by the glare he was sending around the room.

"My name is Professor Snape, you will address me as Professor or Sir, In this class you will be on your best behaviour or I will make you regret it, in this class there is to be no talking other than when I am talking, and that is only if you are asking me a pertinent question, Many of you in the class will not continue it past your OWL exams in 5th year as I only take the best. There will be no fancy wand waving in my class and because of that I will teach you how to stop death and brew glory, there is no finer art than this, am I understood" "Yes professor" the class intoned.

"Good, now we (and he turned and glared at Harry) have a new celebrity starting" he said with scorn evident in his voice "Mr Potter if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood what would I get?". Harry stopped and thought, ingredients tables flashed through his mind "I don't know what it is called Professor but the ingredients suggest that it is a powerful sleeping draught" he said. "Not good enough Potter, it creates the Draught of Living Death, 5 points from Ravenclaw, where could I find a Bezoar?"

This Harry did know "They are stones found in the stomach of goats Sir, they can cure most poisons", the professor seemed a little bit surprised at his answer, however he did growl out "correct, 1 point to Ravenclaw, finally Mr Potter what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" "Nothing sir, they are the same plant", again surprise showed on the professor's face, "Correct again Potter, 1 point to Ravenclaw" it was at this point that their eyes met and all hell broke loose.

To the class it appeared that professor Snape spontaneously combusted as he burst into golden flames, rolling on the floor screaming and Harry Potter slumped forward, blood trickling from his nose. To the two people involved however who this happened

As soon as their eyes met Snape tore into Harry's mind determined to find some memory to humiliate the boy with, Snape expected to be straight into the memories of a spoilt 11 year old boy however what he found instead was a green area with a large building ahead of him, as he stepped onto the grass, it started to tug at his feet, slowing him down as he headed towards the building, determined to cause the brat some pain. His anger was building as each step was slowed and he had to fight the grass every time. It was at this moment that the brat in question appeared in his head and walked towards him, fury etched on his face

"What do you think you are doing in my mind Professor?" the Potter brat spat at him. "I am Professor Snape, Master Leglimens, I will do what I want, especially to a spoilt brat like you potter" The Professor drew his wand from inside his robes and fired a low level dark curse at the boy "Crudus Vomica" (1) he intoned and a dark red light slammed into the boys face sending him head over heels into a small heap on the floor, with the boy the grass then let go and he stormed up to the door "Bombarda" the professor incanted and the doors shattered open, sending glass all over the floor of what appeared to be a library, it was at this point that Professor Severus Snape, master Leglimens came unstuck, he was not expecting to be blasted out of the door with a furious blond woman chasing after him throwing unknown hex after unknown hex at him, he was also not expecting to be unable to leave the boys mind, he defiantly was not expecting a phoenix to then appear and charge at him, bursting into flames, setting him alight and throwing him out of the boys mind. A split second later Professor Snape found that he was still on fire and it hurt, he was screaming on the floor when the fire suddenly stopped and he passed out

Professor Albus Dumbledore was in his office enjoying a brief quiet moment before he needed to start on some important paperwork when all of a sudden he felt anger through his link to the castle, no not anger, fury, directed at the dungeons, he checked his list and ran out of his office, he arrived in the dungeons a few moments later and found the class of first years in chaos, Professor Snape was on the floor covered in burns, he looked close to death, the rest of the class where crowded around Harry Potter, saviour of the wizarding world, who was unconscious and bleeding from his nose, the blood had formed a puddle, he was greeted by a distraught first year, granger, yes that was it, who told him that Mr. Potter wouldn't stop bleeding, she said that the two had locked eyes and then Harry had slumped forward bleeding and the professor had burst into flames.

That statement had worried the Headmaster, if it had turned out that Professor Snape had used Leglimacy on a ward of Hogwarts he was magic bound as headmaster to conduct a full investigation, and if Snape was found guilty he would lose his job as potions teacher and that would not do no no no, that would not do at all. However he had more pressing issues, he quickly called for three house elves and had them 'pop' the Professor and the Boy-Who-Lived and himself to the hospital wing. Calling for Madame Pomfrey the school nurse he asked for a diagnosis, what he got shocked him.

"Professor Dumbledore, Mr Potter has been hit by Crudus Vomica and will bleed out in less than 5 minutes unless we can counter the spell, Professor Snape on the other hand, it's bad headmaster, he's got 60% first degree burns, but the burns are from phoenix fire headmaster, I cannot cure them, only phoenix tears can cure him headmaster, he also appears to be trapped in his own mind, he may be insane, what happened Headmaster?" "I don't know Poppy, I really don't we shall have to wait until one of them wakes up, but first, let us cure Mr. Potter" and with that the Headmaster drew his wand and intoned Subsisto Crudus (2) and the blood gushing from Harry's nose ceased, Madame Pomfrey the forced a blood replenishing potion down Harry's throat before turning and starting to provide comfort to Professor Snape.

Harry awoke feeling terrible; he wondered where he was briefly before the Potions lesson came back to him and the attack that Snape had made, he started forward but realised quickly that he didn't know where he was, however the white curtains around him suggested a 1900 style hospital. Suddenly he heard Noticia in his mind "_**I am glad you are awake my ward, I have missed you being awake"**_ "What happened to Professor Snape Noticia, what did you do?" "_**I am afraid I did very little, the curses I threw drove him back but it was your extraordinary phoenix who set him on fire then locked him in his own mind, I'm sorry I will do better to keep good care of you my ward"**_. Harry was about to reply in his mind when Professor Dumbledore entered. "Harry my boy" he said in a jovial voice that sounded to Harry a little bit like a shopping centre Santa Claus he saw on one of the few occasions he had gone with the Dursley's shopping over Christmas, he had gotten a wooden soldier, Dudley had snapped it on the way home. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm well thank you Headmaster". "Now my boy, can you tell me what happened?" "I was in Potions, Professor Snape asked me questions, he took 5 points for a wrong answer but only gave me 1 when I got the question right, which I did twice, then he looked me in the eyes, then there was pain, and I woke up here" Harry felt a little bit guilty lying to the headmaster, but he thought to himself that it was for the best. The Headmaster smiled, "How did you set him on fire with Phoenix fire Mr Potter?" this question was asked a little bit more firmly.

Harry realised that he should probably answer otherwise there would be trouble, however he did not want to reveal his mindscape so he decided to embellish what Ollivander had told him, "He drew his wand from his robes and showed it to the headmaster. This wand is two wands joined together, one was 11 ½ inches, with the core of a phoenix feather, the other was 11 inches long, made of Long toothed Dark wolf with a phoenix fire core, Mr Ollivander joined them together, this was the result". Professor Dumbledore was amazed at the beauty of the wand, 'the boy must be light to have 2 phoenix components in his wand, the wand may protect his mind, yes that must have been what happened'.

The Professor smiled at Harry "you have only been in here for an hour Mr Potter; if you hurry I'm sure you can catch the end of lunch and go to your classes this afternoon, it would not do for you to miss your lesson's although I must insist that you go easy, it will take a little while for the potions to do their work"

..................................................................................................................................................................

Sorry I haven't updated sooner, I've been ill with Swine flu so finishing the chapter and posting it has been the least of my worries! Better now thank god! However it is still a short chapter! I also appologise for the table!

Hope you enjoy, any suggestions for improvement are welcomed. But please try and refrain from the flames.

Crudus Vomica – Bleeding Curse

Subsisto Crudus – Halt Bleeding

What should I do with Snape now that he is covered with 60% phoenix fire burns?

Next chapter will include the end of the first day and the rest of the week, we shall be re-introduced to a weasel, a ferret and Snapes fate shall be decided.

I thank you again for reading this.


End file.
